Entering her fourth season as an assistant coach at Duke, Samantha Williams has developed into one of the top recruiting coordinators in the nation under Head Coach Joanne P. McCallie.

After being hired as an assistant coach under McCallie at Michigan State on April 13, 2007, Williams decided to continue on to Duke once McCallie took the head coaching position with the Blue Devils. Williams works primarily with the guards and is one of two recruiting coordinators at Duke.

In her first year with the program, Williams helped bring in the fifth-best recruiting class in the nation with Chelsea Hopkins, Kathleen Scheer and Shay Selby and then followed with another solid class in 2009, including French National Team standout Allison Vernerey, Alexis Rogers and Janee Johnson. Williams then guided the No. 1 class nationally to Duke in her third year with the signing of Chelsea Gray, Tricia Liston, Haley Peters, Richa Jackson and Chloe Wells. The 2010-11 class is shaping up to be one of the best in the nation as well.

Williams guided current Blue Devil senior Jasmine Thomas to All-America honors in 2009-10, while also being nominated for National Player of the Year accolades. She also helped coach former Duke All-ACC selection Abby Waner from 2007-09, who was selected with the 21st overall selection in the 2009 WNBA Draft by the New York Liberty.

A former Auburn standout, Williams spent three years at DePaul as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator before arriving at Duke. She helped the Blue Demons through the most successful period in school history, going a combined 72-25 for a 74.2 winning percentage. DePaul advanced to three NCAA Tournaments, including the school’s first NCAA Sweet 16 appearance in 2005-06.

Williams went to DePaul after serving as an assistant coach at her alma mater, Auburn, in 2003-04, working with her former coach, Joe Ciampi. The Tigers posted a 22-9 record and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Williams worked with perimeter players and was also in charge of the strength and conditioning program.

She began her collegiate coaching career with Conference USA’s Saint Louis University, serving as an assistant for one season in 2001-02 before moving on to Columbus State in 2002-03. Serving as the Division II school’s recruiting coordinator and top assistant, Williams helped Columbus State to a 28-4 record.

As a student-athlete at Auburn, Williams was a four-year starter (1992-96) and two-time co-captain (1994-96) while leading the Tigers to three NCAA Tournament appearances and earning a bachelor of science degree in human sciences from Auburn in 1996. In those three NCAA appearances, Auburn reached the Sweet 16 twice and the Elite Eight once. Individually, Williams set Auburn’s career three-point field goal record with 161 three-pointers.

Williams was recruited to Auburn by McCallie prior to Coach P taking over the reins at Maine in 1992.

In 1993, Williams played for the U.S. Junior National Team that took the bronze medal at the R. William Jones Cup in Taipei, Taiwan.

Following her four-year collegiate career, she played for the San Jose Lasers of the American Basketball League in 1996-97. The Louisville, Ky., native attended Manual High School and was a first team Parade and Street and Smith’s All-America. She was also named to USA Today’s Super 25.